It's official...

It is official... My pumpkins have the squash bug infesting them! Here is the little bugger! I happened to get a photo of him when I went out to take photos of the leaves...

After getting the photos I headed down to PWF&G to check with the pro - Margaret. She pulled out a great book on diseases and bugs and sure enough it was the good ol' squash bug!

Now how to fix my ailing pumpkins... Now I try very hard to be an organic gardener, but there are times when extreme measures need to be taken, especially when my poor pumpkin plants are fight for their lives. So I picked up some insecticide powder from PWF&G...

But I got home and looked online and thought about the possibilities of want might happen if I laid this powder down on the ground and sprinkled it all over the leaves of my pumpkin plant.

First, I thought of our little man who is 7 months - not yet crawling and most likely wouldn't get into it, but still I didn't want to take any risks. Second, I thought of our two wonderful dogs - Abby our chocolate lab and Sucia our golden retriever... Abby has a tendency to eat the fertilizer I sprinkle, so this might be a very dangerous yummy treat for her. Third, I thought of our free range chickens - they eat everything.

Oh wait the chickens!! They might eat these fun little bugs destroying my pumpkins... huh? Well lets see... I opened the fence and let my three chickens and one rooster free to do what they please - yeah might not have been a very good idea...

They ate the leaves of my poor pumpkins and pulled up about 25 % of them!! OH MY! So we pushed them away from my pumpkins and closed the fence back up. I babied the pumpkins to see if I could save the remaining pumpkins and determined what the damage was. Much damage, but I would have to see...

I waited a few days and watered like crazy and checked them two times a day. Obsessed much??? Yep, just ask my husband - pumpkins are my second pride and joy (first being my little man).

So far I think they have recovered. I see growth, but it could be my imagination and/or hopefulness... ;0)

I will update in a few days.